SPORTS A6
LOCAL &
STATE A5
OUTDOORS B1
A wintry walk on a
spring day
Four Bulldogs
advance to state
tennis tourney
Illegal pot farms
expand indoors
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
IN THIS EDITION: LOCAL • OUTDOORS & REC • SPORTS
City Council
discusses
reply on
ambulance
service
QUICK HITS
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Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Scarlett
Soto of Baker City.
BRIEFING
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Baker County Garden
Club meets May 18
The Baker County Garden
Club will meet on Wednes-
day, May 18, at 10:30 a.m.
at the Eagle Cap Nursery,
45328 Mother Lode Road
in the Keating Valley. Those
who want to carpool should
meet at 9:30 a.m. at the
Baker County Library, 2400
Resort St. Please bring a
sack lunch. New members
are always welcome.
Councilors concerned about
parts of county’s request for
proposals, but commissioners
say those are unfounded
BY SAMANTHA O’CONNER
soconner@bakercityherald.com
Students Make
Their Best
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Ballot return just
below 20%
Almost one in fi ve Baker
County voters had returned
their ballot for the May
17 primary election as of
Friday morning, May 13,
Baker County Clerk Ste-
fanie Kirby said.
The county mailed
12,850 ballots, the most for
any election in county histo-
ry. As of Friday morning, the
county had received 2,547
ballots. The number of eligi-
ble voters in the county has
risen substantially over the
past fi ve years, due in large
part to Oregon’s “motor
voter” law, which took effect
Jan. 1, 2016, and auto-
matically registers people
after they visit a DMV for
any transaction.
Kai Ogan, sitting, used laser etching to
create his cutout and keychain designs
at his booth during the Baker High
School Market Day on May 11, 2022.
SALES
PITCHES
First Market Day at
BHS allows students to
show their creativity
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
WEATHER
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Today
62/42
Rain showers
Sunday
74/45
Rain showers
Monday
67/40
Rain showers
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
The space below is for a postage label
for issues that are mailed.
SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 • $1.50
Baker High School student Gracie Morris
had an abundance of humorous stickers
and jewelry of her own design for sale at
the BHS Market Day on May 11, 2022.
T
he price tags gleamed only half as
bright as sellers’ smiles on Wednes-
day, May 11, as students at Baker High
School launched their own vending
booths for the very first BHS Market Day.
See, Market/Page A5
Kids try out North Powder’s
newly restored playground
BY DICK MASON
The Observer
NORTH POWDER — The
restored playground at North
Powder’s city park is now for-
mally open thanks to about
60 energetic children.
Students from nearby
North Powder Elementary
School participated in a
grand opening ribbon-cut-
ting ceremony on Thursday,
May 12. The children cut
through a crepe paper ribbon
on the edge of the playground
by running through it.
The ribbon cutting cer-
emony officially opened a
renovated playground that
features a swing set with six
swings (two designed for
small children and four for
older children), a double tee-
ter-totter, a merry-go-round,
See, Playground/Page A3
Baker City Manager Jonathan Cannon will
present the City Council with a draft response
to Baker County’s ambulance service request for
proposals at the Council’s May 24 meeting.
Councilors met in a work session on Wednes-
day, May 11, to discuss the request for proposals
(RFP) and how the city should respond.
The county set a June 3 deadline for pro-
posals.
Councilors had decided during their meeting
on Tuesday, May 10, to respond to the county’s
RFP, which covers the Baker Ambulance Service
Area. That includes Baker City as well as about
two-thirds of the rest of the county, including
the Baker and Sumpter valleys.
The Baker City Fire Department is the cur-
rent ambulance provider for that area, although
the city and county do not have a contract for
the service.
The Council’s decision preserves the possibil-
ity that the fire department will continue to op-
erate ambulances beyond Sept. 30, 2022. That’s
the date the city set for ending ambulance ser-
vice in a notice the City Council voted to send
to the county on March 22.
Under Oregon law, the county, not the city, is
legally responsible for ensuring ambulance ser-
vice. If the city does curtail its ambulance ser-
vice, the county would need to find a replace-
ment provider.
In response to the city’s notice, county com-
missioners approved the RFP in April.
Cannon has told city councilors, including
at the March 22 meeting, that he doesn’t think
the city can afford to continue operating ambu-
lances because the city isn’t collecting enough
revenue from ambulance bills.
See, Council/Page A3
ODFW confirms
another livestock
wolf attack
Calves injured near Richland
BY JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Wolves from the Cornucopia pack injured
two calves north of Richland recently, the
third attack on cattle in that area in the past
few weeks, according to the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).
ODFW biologists investigated the latest
incident on Monday, May 9, in the Summit
Road area.
A rancher found two injured calves while
checking cattle on a 5,400-acre Bureau of
Land Management grazing allotment. Biol-
ogists estimated the calves were injured one
to two weeks earlier.
Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash, who
also responded to the incident, said earlier
this week that he thinks one calf, which had
the largest open wound, would be eutha-
nized.
Students from North Powder Elementary try out the play structure and other fea-
tures at North Powder’s new playground on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
See, Wolves/Page A2
Safe Families for Children hosts forum May 19
BY LISA BRITTON
lbritton@bakercityherald.com
Safe Families for Children,
a local faith-based minis-
try with families that help
care for children while their
parents are struggling with
issues, is hosting a commu-
nity forum on Thursday,
May 19, at New Directions
Northwest, 3452 13th St. in
Baker City, from 9 a.m. to
12:30 p.m.
TODAY
Issue 2
12 pages
The community is wel-
come to attend. Register
online at www.eventbrite.
com/e/2022-commu-
nity-forum-registra-
tion-304116268947.
The event features psychi-
atrist and author Dr. Curtis
Thompson. The main session
will be livestreamed, followed
by a breakout session with
those in attendance. The fo-
rum also includes local suc-
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Community News.............A2
cess stories and several na-
tional panelists.
Safe Families started in
Baker City in November 2019.
Andy Micka became program
director in February 2021.
The program, he said, has six
host homes available to help
struggling families.
“Parents, if they’re strug-
gling, can volunteer for this,”
Micka said. “We can host the
child while the parents work
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on making a safe home.”
He said the program has a
92% rate of children returning
to home, rather than entering
the foster care system.
Long-term hosting, up to
six months, is available, as well
as day hosting or respite care
for a weekend. Host homes go
through a background check
through the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education, and also
complete various trainings.
Jayson Jacoby ..................A4
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“It’s a lengthy process to
get a host family approved,”
Micka said.
The program, he said, uses
“circles of support” to assist
families.
“There’s a whole circle of
support wrapped around
that family,” he said. “Our ap-
proach is to include the parent
in everything.”
To learn more, visit https://
safe-families.org/.
Sports ...............................A6
Turning Backs ..................A2
Weather ............................B5